Two people were killed when their small plane crashed shortly after taking off Friday evening from an airport in Pine River, Minn.

The names of the victims were being withheld until family members could be notified, Cass County Sheriff Tom Burch said Saturday.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the single-engine Piper Cub J-4A took off shortly after 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Witnesses said it was flying "low and slow" before crashing about a quarter mile south of the airport.

Burch said that there was no fire despite fuel leakage. The plane, built in 1940, was registered to a Pine River man.

Investigators with the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration visited the scene of the crash Saturday.

KEVIN DUCHSCHERE